Guest injury and liability coverage
Every guest who walks through the door is a potential liability claim. Wet pool decks, unfamiliar stairs, hot tubs — the risks are built into the property. The question is whether the coverage is built into your program.
What guest injury coverage protects against
Guest injury coverage pays when someone gets hurt at a property you manage. It covers the medical bills, legal defense, and settlement or judgment costs — whether the injury happens in the kitchen, by the pool, or on the front steps.
Wet pool decks, icy walkways, loose stair railings, uneven pavement. Slip-and-fall is the most common guest injury claim in short-term rentals.
Drowning, near-drowning, chemical burns, slips on wet surfaces. Properties with pools face 2-3x the liability exposure of those without.
Fire pits, grills, hot tubs with malfunctioning temperature controls. Guest unfamiliarity with the property increases risk.
Covers immediate medical expenses (typically up to $5,000) regardless of fault. This pays for a guest's ER visit without a lawsuit being filed.
What guest injury coverage doesn't cover
Guest injury coverage is focused on liability for injuries to guests at your properties. Here's what it doesn't handle — and where each risk is covered instead.
Physical damage to the property is handled by property damage coverage, not liability. Learn more →
Injuries to your own employees are covered by workers' compensation, not guest liability.
If a homeowner sues you for a management mistake, that's E&O coverage — not liability. Learn more →
Deliberate harm or negligence the owner knew about and ignored is typically excluded.
Auto-related injuries on or near the property require commercial auto coverage.
Why STR hosts face elevated liability risk
Your properties host strangers who've never been there before. They don't know the deck is slippery when wet, the hot tub runs hot, or the third step creaks. That unfamiliarity, combined with vacation behavior, creates liability exposure that long-term rentals and owner-occupied homes don't face.
Velaris Liability Control: every homeowner, every stay
Chasing homeowners for proof of commercial liability coverage is one of the most frustrating parts of onboarding. Half don't have it, a quarter have the wrong kind, and the rest let it lapse. Liability Control fixes that by auto-enrolling every homeowner at onboarding.
Coverage limits: Silver, Gold, and Platinum
Choose the tier that matches your portfolio's risk profile. Properties with pools, hot tubs, or waterfront features should carry higher limits. All tiers include legal defense costs.
- Per-occurrence limit: $100,000
- Medical payments: $5,000
- Legal defense included
- Per-occurrence limit: $500,000
- Medical payments: $5,000
- Legal defense included
- Per-occurrence limit: $1,000,000
- Medical payments: $10,000
- Legal defense included
Medical payments coverage: the first line of defense
Medical payments coverage is a small but important piece of guest injury protection. It pays for a guest's immediate medical expenses — typically up to $5,000 or $10,000 — regardless of who was at fault.
Think of it as goodwill coverage. A guest trips on the front step and needs stitches. Instead of waiting for a liability investigation, medical payments covers the ER bill immediately. This often prevents minor injuries from escalating into lawsuits — the guest gets taken care of, and there's no adversarial process.
Frequently asked questions
Does the homeowner's personal insurance cover guest injuries?
Usually, no. Most homeowner's policies contain exclusions for injuries that occur during commercial use of the property. Short-term renting is commercial use. If a guest slips on the pool deck and the homeowner's policy denies the claim because the property was being rented, the homeowner — and potentially you as the property manager — are personally exposed. Velaris Liability Control fills that gap with coverage designed specifically for STR use.
What's the difference between liability coverage and medical payments coverage?
Liability coverage responds when the property owner is legally responsible for a guest's injury — it pays for the injured party's damages and the legal defense costs. Medical payments coverage is smaller (typically $5,000-$10,000) and pays for a guest's immediate medical expenses regardless of who was at fault. Medical payments is designed to handle minor injuries quickly, before they escalate into lawsuits.
How does auto-enrollment work for homeowners?
When a homeowner joins your management program, Velaris Liability Control enrolls them automatically at the tier you've selected for your portfolio. There's no paperwork for the homeowner, no separate application, and no gap in coverage between onboarding and their first guest. If a homeowner prefers to use their own commercial liability policy, they can opt out — but Velaris monitors third-party policies to make sure they actually meet your requirements.
Am I covered as the property manager, or just the homeowner?
Both. Guest injury claims often name the property manager and the homeowner as defendants. Velaris Liability Control covers the homeowner as the named insured and includes the property management company as an additional insured. Legal defense costs are covered for both parties.
What happens if a guest injury claim exceeds the coverage limit?
If a claim exceeds your per-occurrence limit, the insured parties are responsible for the difference. This is why coverage limits matter — a $100,000 limit might cover a broken arm, but a serious pool accident or a fall resulting in a spinal injury can easily exceed $500,000. For properties with pools, hot tubs, or elevated decks, Gold ($500,000) or Platinum ($1,000,000) tiers are strongly recommended.
Stop chasing homeowners for liability coverage
Velaris Liability Control auto-enrolls every homeowner so you never have a gap in coverage.
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